Finding inspiration in the Psalms: a Church Times one day festival

Thursday 2 October 2025 | 10:00 - 16:30

De Grey Rooms, York

 Introduction

A one-day event exploring the gift of the Psalms through poetry, art, liturgy, and music. 

The Psalms, rediscovered during the pandemic as songs of lament, praise, and hope, became a welcome ritual and source of comfort at home, when church buildings closed. This renewed appetite has not waned, and will be the focus of a one-day event to appreciate and deepen our understanding of the Psalms, and their relevance today.

Through poetry, art, music, and liturgy, expert contributors will explore the Psalms in a variety of contexts, including as forms of praise and exaltation, how they help to express pain and suffering with honesty, while also offering words and inspiration to praise God, the place of the Psalms in the lived and living theology of the Church, and more.  

The event will conclude at 4.30 p.m. to allow time for anyone who wishes to attend Evensong at York Minster (a five-minute walk away) at 5.30 p.m. 

Speakers 

Malcolm Guite is a poet and priest, and Life Fellow of Girton College, Cambridge. His books include David’s Crown: Sounding the Psalms and Sounding the Seasons: Seventy Sonnets for the Christian Year, both published by Canterbury Press, and Mariner: A Voyage with Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Hodder 2017). In 2023, he was awarded the Archbishop Lanfranc Medal by the Archbishop of Canterbury. 

Victoria Johnson is Dean of the chapel of St John’s College, Cambridge. She grew up singing in the Anglican Choral tradition and read Theology and Religious Studies at Cambridge University and the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University, United States. After parish ministry in Manchester, she was made a Residentiary Canon at Ely Cathedral, and, in 2020, was appointed Canon Precentor of York Minster, overseeing the music and liturgy in that place. She is Canon Theologian at St Edmundsbury Cathedral and still sings as a cantor at St John’s. She has recently published her first book, On Voice: Speech, Song, Silence, Human and Divine (DLT, 2024)

Roger Wagner is an artist and poet, and Honorary Fellow of Lincoln College Oxford. Among his recent exhibitions was Stanley Spencer/Roger Wagner at Cookham, and The Farther Away at the Museum of Modern Art in Machynlleth. There is a permanent collection of his work at the Faith Museum in Bishop Auckland. His books include The Penultimate Curiosity (with Andrew Briggs), and several books of poetry including The Nearer You Stand, and The Farther Away. Thirty years ago, he began translating and illustrating the Psalms, and a selection of these was published by Canterbury Press as The Book of Praises in 2020. 

Megan Daffern was installed as Canon Chancellor of Wells Cathedral in September 2023. She was ordained priest in 2006, after which she spent many years in student welfare, teaching, and research, first as Chaplain of Jesus College, Oxford, then as a tutor at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. Latterly, she was Acting Dean and Director of Studies in Theology at Gonville and Caius College. She also supported many vocations, candidates, and ordinands coming into ministry while she was Diocesan Director of Ordinands in the diocese of Ely. She continues to teach Hebrew Bible/Old Testament courses online for the Eastern Region Ministry Course and is committed to keeping up her research in the Psalms through speaking engagements as well as publications, including her book Songs of the Spirit: A Psalm a Day for Lent and Easter. At Wells Cathedral, she is responsible for the schools’ work, for resourcing lifelong learning, and for the Library and Archives. She is also Keeper of the Fabric and supports the breadth of volunteer ministry.

 Programme

Venue

The De Grey Rooms, built 1841-42, is an example of early Victorian public architecture built by private subscription. The site is also an example of urban military architecture, and a comparatively rare example of a high-status military entertainment building.

Refreshments

Refreshments are included in the ticket price. Tea and coffee will be served on arrival, mid-morning, and mid-afternoon. Plus, a lunch buffet, including hot items and desserts.

Tickets

IMPORTANT: Please add orders@hymnsam.co.uk to your safe senders list. Once you have ordered your ticket, please check your inbox and, if necessary, your Spam folder, to retrieve your order confirmation email and ticket. The link to the broadcast is embedded in the ticket. If it has not arrived safely please contact us at events@hymnsam.co.uk. Thank you.

Please note: If you have booked your ticket and are no longer able to attend in-person, HA&M only offers full refunds of the amount paid if cancellation is at least three months before the event date: 50% of the amount paid will be refunded if cancellation is at least one month beforeto the event date. No refund is possible after that date.